Making Dead Men Proud
by Steph-Schell
Summary: Companion piece to "Anything to Make This Right". Danny's thoughts on the car accident that changed everything.


**A/N: **Some times when I'm emotional you get fluff. Today you get this.

* * *

"Couldn't hack the hospital anymore?" Danny asked as his sister sat down next to him.

"Apparently two hours of torturing myself is my limit today," she sighed. "How long have you been here?'

Danny shrugged. "Longer than two hours. How is everything?"

Charlie gave an ugly laugh. "How do you think?"

"Judging from the sound of your laughter, bad. How's mom?'

"She's up and moving. Asking when you're going to visit her."

Danny tried not to visibly flinch. He really didn't want to visit his mother. If he saw her and her useless legs, it the nightmare he was living in real. Danny couldn't' pretend it was all a dream if he actually saw her. "Think I'll wait a bit," he said quietly.

"You won't go see your living relatives but you'll sit here for hours every day," Charlie sighed. "How does that make sense?"

"Mea culpa," Danny replied.

Charlie nodded. Self-flagellation. The Matheson family specialty. Their uncles had been masters of the craft, though their father was no slouch if he had been drinking. Everything hinged on the Mathesons and their failure to be all they could be. Apparently Danny was really getting his practice in early. "It's not your fault you know."

"They were here because of me Charlie."

"Yeah, because they were proud of you."

Danny stared at Uncle Bass' grave marker. "I wanted them to be proud," he murmured. "That was why I did…everything." And it was true. From the time he learned what a Marine was; Danny had pushed himself to be just like Miles and Bass. Every time his mother or school or his health tried to pull him back, Uncle Miles and Uncle Bass were there to push him forward. They never let him believe he was weaker than anyone else even with his asthma. Not that anyone gave him any grief. No one wanted to mess with the kid whose uncles were high decorated war veterans.

Of course the real fight came when Danny was just six months away from being 18 and informed his parents he was joining the Marine Corps. His mother had yelled at him for two days straight then proceeded to not talk to him for the rest of the week. Uncle Bass was the one to ask Danny if he was sure of what he wanted. To remind Danny that being a Marine was a big responsibility and Danny couldn't' back down once he was in. Danny showed up at the recruitment office on his 18th birthday standing ramrod straight like his uncles had shown him. His asthma should have made it impossible to get in. Knowing Uncle Bass and Uncle Miles had been enough to get him a physical test. Danny made sure he passed with flying colors.

Now here he was just three days after his graduation ceremony staring at a grave. "All I wanted was to make them proud," he sighed. "So tell me, Charlotte, how do you make dead men proud?"

"Damned if I know," Charlie replied. "But one of them isn't dead. Maybe you could start by visiting him."

Danny didn't even hesitate. "Absolutely not." Charlie had gotten him to visit Miles just once. That was all it took for Danny to swear he would never return. He couldn't stand watching Miles Matheson descend into madness.

"Maybe it would help."

"Charlie if you make me go there I will end up in a bed right next to him."

"Don't' joke about that."

"Who says I'm joking?"

Charlie glanced at her brother. "Why does it bother you so much? I mean, I know why I hurt but at least I can see him. You threw up after five minutes in the room with him."

"It's…" Danny ran a hand through his buzz cut. "It's the indignity of it, Charlie. Uncle Miles and Uncle Bass were Marines. They were war heroes. And the thing that takes them down is a fucking car crash? That's not right Charlie and you know it."

"What I know is that Uncle Miles apparently finds a world without power much more comforting than the one we actually live in." Charlie shook her own blonde tresses. "And that's fucked up."

"Actually, it's not."

"What do you mean?"

"If there are no cars, no one can die in a car accident."

Charlie shivered at the accuracy of that statement. Then she asked Danny something that had been on her mind for a long time but only he could probably answer. "Uncle Miles kept Uncle Bass alive but Dad is still dead in his world. What do you think that means?"

"I think it means Uncle Miles spent a lot more time with Uncle Bass than Dad so he could keep the picture of Uncle Bass alive in his head longer." Danny decided he should answer her real question as well. "I don't think it's a question of who he loved more or better. I think it's a question of who his mind could recreate better. And because how their lives worked, that was Uncle Bass. Not Dad."

Charlie rested her head on his shoulder. "Did I tell you he has an ex-love interest?"

"Oh really?"

"Candy striper who reads to him. Nice woman. Kind of pretty."

"Good for her. What does she do?"

"Blows stuff up."

"Nice work."

"If you can get it."

Charlie pulled her jacket tighter around her. "How much longer on your leave?'

"About a week. They offered to extend it but…"

"So you ship out in a week? Where?"

"Not sure yet."

"Hope it's not a war zone."

"I wouldn't mind that."

"Don't say that Danny."

Danny put his arm around her. "I'm not suicidal, Charlie. I promise. I just want something to take my mind off this."

"Good. I don't need another flag in the house." Uncle Bass didn't have any family so he named Uncle Miles as his next of kin. Charlie and Danny had been given the flag at his funeral and Charlie was taking care of it until Danny returned from deployment.

Danny decided they'd had enough of the cold for one day. They could be just as depressed at home and it would be warmer. "Let's go before I freeze to the ground."

"You're the one that decided to visit Uncle Bass for hours," Charlie reminded him as they got to their feet.

"Worth it," Danny declared. He snapped off a salute to his uncle before following his sister to the car.


End file.
